FATS IN COOKERY. Besides being a highly concentrated form of heat-supplying food (hydro-carbons) fats have many specialized uses in cookery : as a frying medium, for shortening pastry, or other flour mixtures, greasing receptacles in which food is cooked and basting roast or baked meats. Cooking fats, obtained from "fixed oils and fats" may be either of animal or vegetable origin. The following are the chief culinary fats : Animal.—Cream is easily digested; it can replace cod liver oil, and is used for making delicate dishes (creams, ice creams, souf flés, cream soups, etc.). Clotted cream is also used as a garnish. With the addition of sugar, cream will keep in a cool place for about 36 hours. Butter, if pure and kept cool, is one of the best fats for making pastry, cakes, etc., and for blending with flour in sauce-making, and also for nutrition, as it contains vitamins. For frying vegetables and delicate fish or meats, butter is preferable to any other fat on account of its delicate flavour. Fresh butter is bet ter than salt for pastry-making. Margarine is made from animal fat (often mixed with vegetable oils) churned in milk. Dripping and clarified fat is obtained by roasting meat. Chicken fat is the most delicate, and is good for cake making. Lard (q.v.) is a very rich fat, excellent for light frying if used with other fats, but inclined to make food a little greasy if used alone. It is best to use one third lard to two-thirds other fat for pastry and frying purposes. Lard should not be used for "pan" frying. Pure lard is frequently mixed with other cheaper fats and sold as compound lard. Suet is much used in making boiled puddings where the fat can be chopped up with other ingredients ; also for adding to certain dishes to make up fat deficiency. Both beef and mutton suet are used, but beef suet is generally preferred to mutton on account of its nutty flavour. Kidney suet should be used where possible.
Olive oil is the best frying medium and supe rior to animal fat, as it keeps the colour of the food fried a light golden-brown; it must, however, be carefully used as the flavour is spoilt if the oil is raised to too high a temperature. Olive oil is also much employed for making salad dressings and for greasing dishes for delicate foods such as creams, etc. As an ingredient in batter mixtures for frying fish, olive oil is particularly useful in producing a light batter. It is much adulterated with cheaper oils such as cotton-seed. peanut. etc. (2) Margarine from nut fats is now much employed for general cooking purposes and as a substi tute for butter. Owing to the fact that it contains milk and salt, margarine is not suitable for frying where boiling fat is needed. (3) Cacao fat (butter) is a vegetable fat that is solid at ordinary temperatures. Though excellent as a cooking fat it has the great drawback of possessing a decidedly pungent flavour rather like chocolate, which makes it undesirable for general use. (4) Vege table and nut oils, refined and tasteless, are much used in the United States for "pan" frying, frying, salad dressings and flour mixtures. Those most generally used are cotton-seed, corn and peanut oils. Some are solidified (hydrolized).
Larding.—This is a method of introducing fat into lean or dry meat and consists of either placing slices of fat (usually pork or bacon fat) over meat which is to be roasted or threading strips of fat through the flesh with a larding needle.
Basting.—When meat, fish or game is baked or roasted, the flesh is kept moist by basting the surface over with some kind of fat. Oil may be used for fish, but as a general rule dripping is better for meat. Butter is frequently used for game because of its more delicate flavour. (See also OILS, FATS AND WAXES.) (J. A. Sr.)